PERRY, FL (352today.com) – Disasters don’t recognize holidays. Thousands of people spent the long Labor Day weekend toiling to help hurricane-ravaged communities along Florida’s Gulf Coast recover from Hurricane Idalia.
At a news conference in Perry on Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis was joined by executives from multiple power providers along with other state leaders. Each touted the efforts to restore power as impressive.
Just five days after the storm hit, DeSantis said power had been restored to 545,000 accounts, saying that represents 96% of all accounts that were affected. He said fewer than 23,000 remain without power across the state of Florida.
“To be where we are now, this has probably been the fastest restoration – even faster than we did during Hurricane Ian – that’s something that’s really meaningful,” said DeSantis. “I know Floridians are appreciative when they see the power trucks coming into the state on the eve of a storm.”
DeSantis thanked linemen, recognizing that it’s tough, dangerous work done in trying conditions. He also expressed gratitude to all the power companies for working together to restore power so quickly.
Prior to Idalia making landfall on Wednesday, thousands of utility crews staged for rapid deployment after the storm.
Manny Miranda, Executive Vice President for Power Delivery from Florida Power & Light, said the Sunshine State received assistance from 16 other states. He described the work of power crews as heroic and selfless.
“One thing I’m very proud of is… we all become part of one team: Team Florida,” said Miranda. “Hurricanes pay no attention to utility territory lines or county lines. They slice through our communities. It’s really up to all of us to come together to be able to return a sense of normalcy to all of our customers.”